Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B08—CLEANING
  • B08B—CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
  • B08B9/00—Cleaning hollow articles by methods or apparatus specially adapted thereto
  • B08B9/02—Cleaning pipes or tubes or systems of pipes or tubes
  • B08B9/021—Cleaning pipe ends or pipe fittings, e.g. before soldering

Definitions

• conduits such as are usually made of copper, aluminum or plastic and are used for the containment of electrical wires or for carrying water, heating or cooling gases, and other fluids, must be cleaned on the inside and outside so as to facilitate the introduction of wires and to ensure sound assembly with fittings, couplings, and the like.
• Surfaces that are sharp, rough, contaminated or oxidized can inhibit soldering, brazing, and bonding, resulting in joints that are unsound and porous; slivers of material, burrs and sharp edges can also injure workers and can damage wire used in constructing an electrical installation.
• a pipe cleaning system that is capable of simultaneously cleaning the interior and exterior of the open end portion of a copper pipe is disclosed in Knowles United States Patents Nos. 6,704,964 and 6,745,426. Additional United States patents of in- terest in the field include Hall No. 2,455,762, Rosenboom No. 2,537,916, Von Arx No. 2,838,778, Mills No. 3,076,988, McCartney No. 3,436,783, Smith No. 4, 166,301, Singer No. 4,274,770, Toelke No. 4,372,003, True No. 4,433,448, Miner No. 4,600,444, Carter No. 6,101,696, Carter No. 6,106,370, Carter No. 6,497,022 and Tope No. 6,745,425.
• Yet another more specific object of the invention is to provide a tool having the foregoing features and advantages, which tool is constructed to also enable simultane- ous cleaning of the end surface of a pipe.
• the cleaning arm has inner and outer support portions, which extend forwardly with respect to the mounting head and have confronting faces thereon that are spaced transversely from one another and define a rearwardly extending, forwardly open slot therebetween; each confronting face carries a pipe-cleaning element, which will usually be removably attached.
• Means is provided on the mounting head for mounting the cleaning arm and the pipe-supporting arm so as to extend forwardly, with respect to the head, in transversely spaced relationship to one another and in position to enable receipt, within the slot between the forwardly extending support por- tions of the cleaning arm, of the wall defining the open end portion of a pipe that is engaged and supported by the supporting arm; the means for mounting enables adjustment of the transverse spacing between the cleaning arm and the pipe-supporting arm. Relative rotation of the mounting head and a pipe that is so engaged, supported and received, about the axis of the pipe end portion, will cause the pipe-cleaning ele- ments to effect cleaning simultaneously of the surrounding inside and outside pipe surfaces.
• the means for mounting will, more particularly, usually comprise a rectilinear positioning screw that is mounted transversely in the mounting head for rotation about its axis.
• Either the cleaning arm or the pipe-supporting arm (and normally both) is formed with a threaded transverse passage though which the positioning screw extends, which passage engages a correspondingly threaded section of the positioning screw.
• rotation of the positioning screw will effect adjustment of the transverse spacing between the cleaning arm and the pipe-supporting arm so as to accommodate pipes throughout a range of diameters.
• the positioning screw will normally (and most preferably) have a second threaded section with a thread direction that is opposite to the thread direction of a first threaded section, with both the cleaning arm and also the pipe-supporting having corresponding threaded passages for mating engagement with the positioning screw.
• the mounting head of the tool will normally be generally circular, with the positioning screw extending diametrically thereacross.
• a rectilinear guide shaft will advantageously also be provided, mounted transversely in the mounting head and parallel to and rearwardly of the positioning screw so as to extend through transverse pas- sages in the inner end portions of the cleaning arm and the pipe-supporting arm, and thereby slideably support them thereon.
• the pipe-cleaning elements employed will usually be brushes, albeit other suitable cleaning elements, evident to those skilled in the art, may also be utilized if so desired.
• At least the inner support portion of the cleaning arm will advantageously have a widest dimension that is not in excess of about one-half inch, so as to facilitate insertion into pipes of small diameter (e.g., pipes having an inside diameter of one inch or less) and minimize interference with relative rotation.
• Means will desirably be provided for biasing the pipe-cleaning element on the inner support portion of the cleaning arm toward the outer support portion, so as to promote intimate contact and better accommodate surface and structural irregulations or variations in the pipe (e.g., out-of-roundness), and a small metal file strip or fillet, or other element that is effective for abrading the end of a pipe, may advantageously be disposed on a support surface at the rearward end of the slot in the cleaning arm.
• Low-friction means e.g., one or two rollers, or a pad of tough plastic resin
• a stop element may also be provided thereon, positioned to engage the surface on the end of a supported pipe so as to thereby limit the depth to which the pipe can be inserted into the mounting head.
• the tool of the invention may be constructed for manual, semi-automatic, or fully automatic use.
• the tool will include means for turning the arm-adjusting positioning screw manually.
• a semi-automatic or fully automatic embodiment of the invention will include a drive shaft operatively connected to the mounting head and constructed for operative engagement with drive means for effect- ing rotation of the tool.
• the drive shaft will also be opera- tively connected for effecting rotation of the positioning screw within the mounting head so as to initially cause the cleaning arm and the pipe-supporting arm to advance toward one another.
• Such preliminary closing action i.e., produced prior to substan- tial rotation of the tool
• Figure 1 is an end view showing a tool embodying the present invention, con- structed for manual use;
• Figure 2 is a view, in partial section, showing a tool of the invention constructed for semi-automatic operation
• Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 and showing a tool embodying the present invention, constructed for fully automatic operation; and Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevational view, drawn to an enlarged scale and also in partial section, showing a preferred form of the cleaning arm utilized in the tool of the invention.
• FIG. 1 of the drawings therein illustrated is a cleaning tool embodying the present invention and consisting of a head, generally designated by the numeral 10, comprised of two semi-circular collar sections 12, 14 which are interengaged and joined to one another by fasteners 16 to thereby form a full circular collar.
• a rectilinear positioning screw has a shaft, generally designated by the numeral 18, which extends diametrically across the collar of the head 10, with a proximal plain portion 20, adjacent a knurled operating knob 22, passing through a round hole 24 in the collar section 12 and with a distal small-diameter tip element 26 rotata- bly received in a mating socket 28 formed into the opposite collar section 14.
• the positioning screw has threaded portions, 30, 30' intermediate its ends, the threads of which are directed oppositely to one another (i.e., a right-hand thread and a left-had thread).
• the tool includes a cleaning arm, generally designated by the numeral 32, and a pipe-supporting arm generally designated by the numeral 34, the latter comprising a body 35 on which is mounted a pair of rollers 36 and a stop element 37.
• the cleaning arm 32 includes a body 33 from which extend an outer support portion 40 and an inner support portion 42, forming a slot 39 therebetween.
• the confronting faces of the arm portions 40, 42 carry removable brush elements 41 and 43, respectively.
• the brush element 43 is biased away from the inner support portion 42 by a number of coil springs 45, and a suitable bracket 47 serves to maintain the brush element 43 in assembly while permitting it to move freely up and down.
• An abrasive fillet or strip 49 which may for example provide an array of file teeth, is removably secured on the body 33 at the end of the slot 39 formed between the support portions 40, 42.
• a guide rod 52 extends transversely across the circular collar comprising the mounting head 10, behind and parallel to the positioning screw shaft 18 and with its opposite end portions 54 and 56 suitably attached the to collar sections 12, 14.
• the bodies 33 and 35 of the cleaning arm 32 and the pipe- supporting arm 34 have passages 50 through which the guide rod 52 extends, to slidably mount the arms and maintain them at operative altitudes within the cleaning tool.
• the positioning screw is rotated manually, using the knurled knob 22, so as to cause the arms 32, 34 to move in opposite directions on the shaft 18 and thereby to engage the pipe P in the position described.
• subsequent rotation of the pipe and the head 10, relative to one another and about the axis of the pipe portion will simultaneously effect cleaning of both the inside and outside surfaces of the pipe P, adjacent its open end, while also cleaning its annular end face.
• FIG. 2 differs from that of Figure 1 essentially in the provision of a drive shaft 58 through which both the positioning screw 18 and also the guide rod 52 extend, the drive shaft 58 having suitable passages 60, 62 through a forward end portion thereof for that purpose; the drive shaft 58 is staked to the guide rod 52 by a pin 63 so as to maintain the shaft 58 in a coaxial relationship to the head collar 12, 14.
• the rearward end of the power shaft 58 is constructed to facilitate gripping by the chuck of a suitable rotary machine (typically a hand-held power drill, but pos- sibly a different kind of motorized machine or, indeed, a drill brace or other manually driven device).
• a suitable rotary machine typically a hand-held power drill, but pos- sibly a different kind of motorized machine or, indeed, a drill brace or other manually driven device.
• the cleaning arm and pipe-supporting arm in the cleaning tool of Figure 2 are brought into engagement with a pipe by manual turning of the positioning screw, as hereinabove described.
• the tool is regarded to be of semiautomatic character (but of course, it could be rotated manually if so desired).
• the embodiment depicted in Figure 3 differs essentially from that of Figure 2 in that the positioning screw, generally designated by the numeral 18', is coupled to the drive shaft so as to automate the closing action of the cleaning arm 32 and pipe- supporting arm 34, thus rendering the tool fully automatic.
• a bevel gear 66 is attached to the forward end of the drive shaft 58, which meshes with a bevel gear 68 attached in a central location to the shaft 18 ' of the positioning screw.
• a guide sleeve or bushing 64 is attached to the guide rod 52, and serves to rotatably secure the drive shaft 58 in coaxial position relative to the mounting head collar 12, 14, and to secure the bevel gears 66, 68 in meshing interengagement.
• the pipe P In operation of the fully automatic embodiment of the cleaning tool, shown in Figure 3, the pipe P would initially be positioned with its wall inserted into the slot 39 between the support portions 40, 42 of the cleaning arm 32 and with the pipe- supporting arm 34 spaced sufficiently from the cleaning arm 32 to accommodate the pipe P therebetween.
• the positioning screw shaft 18 Upon effecting rotation of the drive shaft 58 (affixed for example in the chuck of a power drill), the positioning screw shaft 18 would be caused to rotate, by operative engagement through the bevel gears 66, 68, so as to advance the pipe-supporting arm 34 and thereby bring the rollers 36 into contact with the outside surface of the pipe P.
• the cleaning arm (or at least the inner support portion thereof) so as to ensure ready receipt within a pipe that is to be cleaned and to prevent interference with relative rotation.
• it will usually be desirable to employ only a single cleaning arm albeit the tool might incorporate a plurality of such arms in certain instances.
• a single pipe-supporting arm (or equivalent structure) will normally be sufficient and preferred, that will also not necessarily be the case. It will be appreciated that the use of a single cleaning arm and a single pipe-supporting arm affords additional fundamental advantages from the standpoint of simplifying construction and manufacture of the tool, particularly in respect of the complexity of the mechanism needed to effect adjustment of the positions of more than two, diametrically disposed arms.
• the cleaning elements will advantageously comprise brushes (e.g., of metal wire); elements of abrasive cloth or paper, steel wool or plastic scouring pads, and the like, may however be employed as well, in appropriate circumstances.
• the manner by which the cleaning and abrasive elements are attached to the respective support surfaces may of course also vary from the foregoing description. It is in any event desirable, however, that those elements be disengageably attached, so as to enable ready replacement when they become excessively worn or distorted; suitable attachment means may comprise for example mechanical fasteners, temporary bonding adhesives, Velcro-like components, or suitable retaining structures.
• suitable attachment means may comprise for example mechanical fasteners, temporary bonding adhesives, Velcro-like components, or suitable retaining structures.
• the choice of cleaning and abrasive elements, and the manner of attachment will be evident to those skilled in the art.
• the present invention provides a tool for simultaneously cleaning inside and outside surfaces surrounding an open end portion of a pipe or other tubular conduit, which tool is adjustable so as to enable cleaning of pipes having diameters throughout a range of values.
• the tool may be constructed for manual use, for semi-automatic use, or for fully automatic use, and it may additionally be include an element for cleaning of the end face of a pipe simultaneously with the surrounding inside and outside surfaces.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Cleaning In General (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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• 2006
  • 2006-05-10 US US11/431,359 patent/US7263737B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2007
  • 2007-03-07 WO PCT/US2007/005871 patent/WO2007133320A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-03-07 EP EP07752563A patent/EP2015877A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2007-03-07 CA CA2625432A patent/CA2625432C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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